Mae Miller Claxton

Mae Miller Claxton is a Professor in the Department of English at Western Carolina University’s College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on Southern, Appalachian, and Native American literature, with significant emphasis on Eudora Welty’s photography and fiction. Recently, her work has expanded to include Horace Kephart and Appalachian women writers like Wilma Dykeman. She has published books such as Conversations with Dorothy Allison and co-edited volumes on Horace Kephart and Ron Rash. Claxton’s teaching spans undergraduate and graduate levels, covering Appalachian literature, southern literature, and 19th-century American literature.

Education: Ph.D. and B.A. from the University of Georgia, M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She served as President of the Eudora Welty Society (2010-2012) and was the Hunter Scholar (2012-2013), leading projects from the Kephart collection in Hunter Library.

Research highlights include interdisciplinary studies of Welty’s modernist techniques and collaborative projects linking literature with social justice themes. Her articles explore topics like regional identity, environmental narratives, and pedagogical strategies for teaching Welty’s works. Awards include the Hunter Scholar fellowship, recognizing her scholarly contributions to Appalachian and Southern studies.